Yeah, I agree. But I'd also like the price to not go up any more before we buy, and that's what could happen if they staff more. And as small as their shop is, it's probably a lot of man hours to field questions from people who may not end up buying. And I'm guessing there's a lot of that in this market. So I'm just going to be patient and expect a wait when I finally place the order. And pester people here with my questions (thank you, everyone). And if they do fold before I get my trailer, I'm out $2000, I think. Not that I have that to throw away, but not enough for me to not risk placing the order either.

I'm positive there are regulations in place where deposits must be returned in the event of non-completion, I'd not worry about that. It can only get better

Sorry my wording and such might have caused some concern Kristen. As i stated my bottom line is i'm still pinching myself as i spend time in the little egg even with my perception/need to tweak what i see there.

Frank i too wish they would be more present and active, both here and FB!

Jim...that's my take on the $ issue also. And above that i do believe that Chandler's personal integrity would not allow such to take place.

It will be a month or so till I have the 2 grand anyways, but I will have it and more. Just because some law says people can't be dishonest doesn't mean they will be honest. I don't know these folks at ParkLiner at all. Certainly the local Fox News video and NCPTV video look good, but heck, even if they were responsive to me and other folks, who knows what to think?

It really was reading all the ParkLiner posts here on fiberglassrv that's got me wondering, just so y'all know.

That does no good really Jim. What am I supposed to ask? "Does everybody have to follow the law?"

I've been financing commercial businesses for 30 years. I've seen companies pack up and leave in the middle of the night. (Well, I didn't actually see them - I would have stopped them!) Law does not stop folks from doing illegal things. Because of my background in finance, I tend to be a bit more cynical than most. I can't change who I am.

The PD Convertor has a Charge Wizard built in and it should, at least once a day, go to 14.1 volts for 15 minutes. When we had Incandescent bulbs it was clearly obvious when this happened and not good for bulb life but great for the battery. Our Trojan 105s lasted 14 years and going strong when we sold the RV.

Not knowing anything about Optima or the variety yu have, what voltage do you need to top them? When I read the Optima site it suggests 13.2 to 13.8 volts as adequate for a normal charge..

Cyclic or Series String Applications: 14.7 volts. No current limit as long as battery temperature
remains below 125°F (51.7°C). When current falls below 1 amp,
finish with 2 amp constant current for 1 hour.

All limits must be strictly adhered to.

---end spec sheet quote.

The figure/area that i will point out (as the tech folk did) is the "Constant Charge" is what is also called "Normal Charging" by some manufacturers (such as Prog.Dyn for the PD series of converters). The optima BT D34M is looking for a minimum of 13.8v (PD4045 folks verified the unit only gives out a Max of 13.6 during "Normal Charging") to bring the battery up to 100% after it has gone through any time of "Boost Mode" of a given converter (PD4045 has a boost mode of ~14.4v). Then the D34M is looking for a "Float Charge" of 13.2v (which the PD does).

As i type the bank has been purpously brought down to almost 12.5v overnight... still at 12.57v as i type so i'll wait a bit longer until i test as Raz suggested.

On a related AGM battery charging note. I've mentioned my HAM Shack utilizing the same battery technology. And i had issues with my first charger not able to bring the battery up to 100% charge and going into maintenance mode prematurely. What i'm seeing with our PL#35 stock system is a similar situation. So i'm looking back at my HAM Shack fix and hoping a similar fix may be applicable here.

It's all good either way. I'm thankful to have rigs we can escape with and i do enjoy doodling!

I have just completed a two hour test of the PD4045 in my Parkliner #35 as suggested by Raz (thx again!). It was a fun quiet time with my kindle paperwhite and a good read out in the PL on an overcast mid-60's Oregon coast day : )

I took notes each 15 minutes on what the readout on the Xantrex LinkLite, Bus-Bar-Meter (the PD4045 is connected directly to the Bus-Bar also), and handheld VOM off each battery. My findings in summary were the PD4045 sent out ~13.5volts at an average of ~6amp over the two hours with a beginning battery voltage of 12.45 volts before hooking up the PD4045 to our 30amp service. The max voltage was 13.52 volts and max amperage for first 15 minutes was 8.2 amps. Here is a listing of each 15 minute reading:

I ended the test at this point as it was twice the allotted time that Raz suggested that the PD4045 should go into "Boost Mode" and show 14.4 volts. Obviously this never occurred. Though, in discussing the unit with PD techs over the phone last week and running some suggested tests with them in the loop the unit was said to be working according to specs. So as i've stated, i really don't know what is up at this point, nor actually do i care since as stated i will be using the 12volt DC side of the system and not the 120vAC side so having the PD converter hooked up is a non issue since we use the rig off grid and what i'm after (and always have been) is simply to keep the battery bank healthy. If that means a high quality stand alone charger (such as the Optima arriving next week) so be it. Nothing lost, yet good knowledge gained in the experiment.

I will post the results of the test with the Optima charger once installed. I will draw the bank down to the same starting level and take readings at 15 minute intervals for two hours to compare and then also post as to when bank is (i hope!) topped off which has not happened yet with the PD4045.

Happy Trails! Our next adventure is in another three weeks so this is all good timing and rig will be ready to go with a full battery bank! Yippie.

I'm bad.. haven't read all the previous posts
1. are you sure the batteries are ok?
2. If this charger is only capable of boost mode for 15 mins as Norm says you aren't charging them correctly anyway. In the solar world a good three stage charger will first of all let you set the bulk charging time (absorb), normally an hour then drop to whatever set point you have for float for however long you have the sun to maintain the level then slowly drop.

sorry for mixing solar with converter charging but the battery charging theory is the same.

De sulfate is once every 21 hours for 15 minutes at 14.1 volts. It works, our batteries were on year 13 or 14 when we sold the motorhome.

Boost Mode is triggered by low battery voltage. Boost voltage is 14.4 volts. The trigger level seems to be undefined in my reading of the literature. It stays in boost until the batter reaches 90% of full charge.